Updated 10:10 pm, Monday, October 1, 2012

Houston disappearance solved when boyfriend can no longer live with lie

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Mark Augustin Castellano told talk show host Dr. Phil the same story he'd told police about his missing girlfriend. In an interview for national television, he said Michelle Warner, 31, walked out of their Houston apartment after a fight Sept. 22 and disappeared.

Two days later, on Sunday, Warner's family had just landed in Los Angeles to film their segment with Dr. Phil when they received a call: We've found Michelle.

Castellano had directed police to where he allegedly buried her body in an oil field between Odessa and Midland.

He confessed to killing a woman he loved greatly yet hated terribly, said Houston Police Department homicide detective Fil Waters. Castellano, 37, is in the Harris County Jail after being charged Monday with murder. A judge set his bail at $50,000.

When Castellano confessed to the killing on Sunday, he ended what Waters admitted could have been an unsolvable case. "His timeline was plausible. There was no physical evidence," Waters said.

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Yet, near the end of a two-hour interview, Castellano took off his glasses, looked at Waters and told him what had happened.

It started as just another argument between Castellano and Warner, his off-and-on girlfriend of four years and mother to their 3-year-old son.

Castellano told Waters that when things were good between them, they were really good.

Warner, who had been convicted for possession of cocaine in 2006, would be clean. They would live together with their son and have Warner's young daughter over for visits. They adopted a black and white kitten in August that had the same blue eyes as Warner and her children.

But when the days were bad, he said they were really bad.

Warner would leave Castellano, sometimes moving in with another off-and-on boyfriend. Castellano told Waters he attempted suicide in 2009 because he didn't think he was being a good father. A friend of the family said he sometimes threatened to hurt Warner and had pushed her up against the wall during fights.

Body put in closet

The night of Sept. 22 was one of the bad days.

They got in a yelling match. She started to slap him, and he decided he'd had enough.

"That's when he lost it and killed her," Waters said. "He was trying to paint a picture of being a battered boyfriend. If all you heard was his side of the story, you'd believe him."

Castellano told the detective he grabbed her throat with both hands and threw her down to the bed. He heard her neck snap, and the apartment was quiet.

Their son walked around the corner and saw his mother's legs hanging off the bed.

"He told him that she was sleeping," Waters said. "He didn't have a plan what to do with the body. His first thought was to get (his son) Cayden out of the apartment."

Castellano put her body in a closet and called his parents in Odessa to ask if they could stay, telling them Warner had walked out again.

Sharing on Facebook

Three days later, Warner's brother called HPD's missing persons department.

Even though friends and family suspected Castellano, they remained hopeful. A photo of Warner holding Cayden was shared on Facebook more than 80 times in the Houston area by friends, family and strangers. Another appeared on television nationwide.

Stefanie Helton, who knew Warner for 20 years, said she was outgoing and loved to sing and debate.

"She would aggravate you until you were laughing and over it," Helton wrote in an email to the Chronicle.

Warner, a paralegal, was trying to rebuild parts of her life. She had appeared in Harris County District Court on criminal charges twice: in 2003 for misdemeanor theft of five bracelets and in 2006 for having less than an ounce of cocaine in her possession. She spent time in jail and on probation.

On Sept. 6, a friend congratulated Warner on Facebook about recent life improvements.

"I agree that it seems life has fallen somewhat into the place it's supposed to be," Warner wrote back. "Isn't it crazy though the ride we take ourselves on to get to the happy place?"

Castellano, a computer technician, kept repeating his story about Warner walking out, but he had already returned to their Sharpstown apartment. He put Warner in an under-the-bed plastic storage tote, sprayed air freshener around the apartment and put the box in the backseat of their car. Before returning to Odessa, he left a note for Warner to allegedly misdirect police.

Body left near oil field

The tote stayed in the car for a day and half before the odor got to him. He left Odessa, heading toward Midland. He put her body in a small gully near an oil field and lightly covered her in dirt. Soon, he'd speak with a producer from Dr. Phil and agree to an interview at his parents' home six days after the murder. Police encouraged it, seeing it as an opportunity to hear another version of the story.

Five days after Warner's death, homicide detectives Waters and Brian Harris began coordinating with Missing Persons.

The family was insistent that Castellano had something to do with the disappearance, but Waters said they had no proof and the man's story was plausible.

"There was just one particular fact that didn't fit his story," Waters said.

Because Castellano had taken the couple's only vehicle to Odessa, police asked how Warner could have left the apartment. He told police she must have called for someone to pick her up and agreed to meet Waters for a face-to-face interview Sunday.

By then, Waters knew the last person she'd called was Castellano.

"Michelle's phone just seemed to shut down," Waters said. "It was talk, talk, talk, talk, talk and then all of a sudden, boom, she's not talking to anybody."

Castellano and his brother bought plane tickets and flew to Houston Sunday morning for the voluntary interview.

"We talked about he and Michelle's relationship from the beginning right up to the present," Waters said. "Then I confronted him about the end of the story not being truthful. I told him to tell me what happened at the apartment."